World Amused by NASA's Close Brush With Peanut-Shaped Comet

Following the 23-million km travel of one Deep Impact probe, "a series
of deep-space manoeuvres, including three gravitational slingshots
around Earth," according to the BBC,
and the deployment of the probe's "two visible-light imagers and one
infrared sensor," NASA has announced its conclusion: the
inside of Comet Hartley 2 resembles a peanut. There may be slightly
more dramatic findings. Perhaps they are secret.

'NASA Scientists Practically Begging Congress to Cut Their Funding,' summarizes The Awl's Dave Bry. His thoughts on the excited exclamations from the team featured in the press:

"We
scientists are stupid," he might as well say, "the government should
definitely not give us any money or let us experiment on stem cells or
listen to anything we say about global warming or anything." Certainly,
God knew the correct shape of the comet without sending a spaceship
named after an Elijah Wood movie 23 million miles away from the earth
to take pictures of it.

Even Time Magazine Has a Mocking Lede "Would you travel 23 million miles to visit a rock?" asks Jeffrey Kluger in his opening. "Probably not, but you're not NASA."

'Snarkiness Aside, This Is a Good Day for Science,' writes Christopher Hickey at Salon (who opened with the less-than-awestruck: "Remember the last time you saw pictures of a comet's nucleus? Exactly.").

Consider
that Hartley 2 is only about three quarters of a mile across. Barely a
dent in the vast reaches of space. Put in that perspective, timing the
craft's fly-by with the comet is a mind-boggling feat. Even though 435
miles is like looking at Sacramento from Laguna Beach, consider that
the distance from Earth to the Moon is 238,857 miles. Yeah, space is
big. ... Deep Impact is the best name ever for a probe taking pictures
of a comet, by the way.

Big Question: Peanut or Drumstick?Charlie Petit at Knight Science Journalism Tracker awards Space.com's Mike Wall
"first prize for original analogy. Lots of reporters compare the
nucleus's shape to a peanut, a few to a bowling pin," explains Petit.
"Wall nails it: a giant chicken drumstick. Maybe this simile made the
rounds, but this story is where I noticed it."

No Really Guys, This Is Exciting! There's something endearing about Discover's nearly day-by-day coverage on the event for its readers. You know, it is kind of interesting that the comet is full of cyanide "acting strangely," or that that scientists were "using a giant radio telescope like a cop's radar gun."